Star Trek The Next Generation: The First Ones
by RobertCanary
Summary: Lore and Data are the strongest androids! Wanna bet?
1. Chapter 1

STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES

Written by

Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Scorpio

**Chapter 1**

**Written by TREKFAN/ Editing by LN X**

His hands trembled slightly as they hovered above the control panel. The sheer exhilaration of it all…the very idea of a place like this existing, actually, really, existing presented to him unlimited options. This discovery would change the way the human race functioned. This was it. This was what he had been searching for.

"Find everything to your liking?" A pair of yellow eyes shone in the darkness.

He breathed in slowly, a sense of relief surging through him. It had all been worth it. "Yes," he said as he turned around to face his companion. "Lore…this is more than I could have ever hoped for."

The Soong android stepped forth from the darkness, a smirk on his face. "Then our agreement is done, Commander Maddox…I mean, Bruce, sorry," he said with a chuckle. "I forgot you lost your rank over this."

Bruce closed his eyes for a moment, pushing back the memories of everything that had led him here; to this place. He opened them again and sighed. "Our agreement is completed, yes," he said with a tinge of sadness. He had never known what the Soong type androids were capable of until Lore…Data had refused him. Data had beaten him in a court of law.

Data had singlehandedly set back his research years, if not decades. Bruce could have made more of him, he could have made the next generation of androids. Instead, his research was put on the backburner. Support for him dwindled, resources for his projects dried up, and he could do nothing about it.

That was until Lore fell right into his lap. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was destiny, or perhaps it was blind luck. Whatever the case was, Data's deactivation of Lore brought the only other Soong type android in existence to Bruce's lab. There he was tasked with merely analysing it before it was locked away forever.

What a waste that would have been. Bruce had debated with himself for days before he broke orders and reactivated Lore…it was the hardest decision of his life. He had to know the secrets to the Soong androids but Lore, like Data, wouldn't let himself be taken apart for that.

Unlike Data, Lore had a better idea…which is why they were here.

Lore crossed his arms and leaned back on a nearby wall. "Dear Bruce, you sound sad that I'm going."

"I'm certainly not happy about it, no…you've been a great help." He looked back at the control panel and then Lore. "Think of what we could do together here…we've found another Mecca of science. A place like this hasn't been seen since Dr. Roger Korby himself found technology from this species."

Lore looked up at the ceiling, mulling his options. "Well, we've certainly had some fun. Why not have some more?" He looked at the control panel and winked at Bruce. "Why don't you turn this place on?"

"Turn…turn it on?" Bruce's curiosity about the place they were in was high, but his Starfleet training was still within him. He had no idea what many of these things did…of what turning on the power source of this ancient outpost would do. "There could be defence systems in place," he suggested weakly.

Lore only smirked. "Go on, hit the switch."

Bruce looked back at the switch and then Lore. "Why? Why are you so insistent I hit the switch?"

"Do it, now," Lore ordered, the tone of his voice full of anger.

"I—" But Bruce barely got another word out before Lore's hand was over his mouth. The android moved with speed, purpose, that even Bruce was unaware he possessed.

"There's only one reason why I needed you and that's to turn on the power," Lore growled as he pulled Bruce closer, the yellow eyes dancing about wildly. "Do as you're told or I will kill you, slowly." Lore's other hand wrapped around Bruce's arm and the android squeezed.

Instantly Bruce's arm snapped like a twig and his screams were muffled by Lore's other hand. His eyes wide with terror, he nodded, agreeing to Lore's terms.

Lore let him go and threw him against the panel. "Time's a wasting," he added with a glare.

The pain was hitting him like a Klingon hit a barrel of bloodwine, but he refused the urge to cradle his broken limb; it would do no good. He reached out and began the activation sequence for the panel. Within moments power was restored to the ancient outpost, the low hum of technology filling the small room.

Lore smiled widely as the wall the panel was on slid away, revealing an enormous chamber, one with multiple diagnostic tables, and a giant glowing rod hanging from the ceiling, its glow giving off a green hue. Lore shoved Bruce into the chamber and looked around himself, laughter echoing in it.

"The old man was right…even after all this time it still works." He reached out and felt the stone diagnostic tables and then shot Bruce a smirk. "They don't make them like they used to, huh?" He grabbed Bruce and slammed him against the diagnostic table.

Bruce's already broke arm didn't much like that, the pain shooting through him, causing him to scream in agony. He tried to fight against Lore but his struggle was useless; with only a hand Lore had him. "Damn you, let me go!" Bruce begged through clinched teeth.

Lore wagged a finger and removed his hand from Bruce. The diagnostic table activated a restraining field around him and now Bruce was complete immobilised. Lore smiled at the sight. "That's convenient." He chuckled to himself as he began to walk to the backside of the diagnostic table where another control panel lay. Lore began to operate it as he spoke to Bruce. "You know, you humans are all alike; it's always about you." He leaned forward, forcing Bruce to look once more into that pale face, those menacing yellow eyes, and that…smirk.

"You brought me here!"

"I needed you, pathetic as that is," Lore said with a sigh. "Only someone who's alive can activate this technology…a bit of a security thing, you see." Lore stepped back from the panel and began walking around the diagnostic table. "Do you even know where you are?"

Bruce gritted his teeth. "I'm in an ancient outpost, one like Dr. Korby discovered well over a hundred years ago."

Lore rolled his eyes. "So basic, so vague, so…human," he said with disgust. "This isn't just some ancient outpost…this is the origin for all androids, new and old alike. These were the First Ones…"

"First Ones?"

Lore shrugged. "It's what old man Soong used to call them. They were his idols, his Gods…he was never a superstitious man, but this was the one thing he would always wish he could find. Unfortunately, he never got the chance," Lore said with a shrug. "I had to kill him."

Bruce's eyes opened wide. He had never known that…it had never been confirmed, it was only a rumour.

"Don't look so surprised…he was in my way. If he was left alive he'd find me…try to 'fix' me," he uttered with hatred. "I don't need to be 'fixed'…I don't need to be 'corrected'. I'm the height of perfection, the best android he ever created…and then he made Data." He clenched his fists. "Data, who was so kind to deactivate me and toss me away like garbage…" He smiled. "And then I found you."

Bruce's heart, racing in his ears at this point, began to beat even harder. He could hear the thunderous roar of it. "You planned this, all along you have…used me!"

Lore clapped his hands together mockingly. "Bravo, Bruce," he said with a laugh. "I knew where this place was…in fact, I came here before I met those poor little lost Borg, trying to make this place work…but to no avail. I decided to go about things my way but that didn't work out…Starfleet got involved…Data got involved…and I got turned off." He returned to the control panel and smiled. "I needed someone whom the sensors here would recognise as alive to activate the power source. Once that was done…well, I now have full access to everything."

"What's your point? What's your purpose here, Lore?! What does this accomplish?!" Bruce demanded, fear overcoming him. His mind was in a jumble trying to process a million different emotions.

"My plan?" Lore leaned on the console, sticking his hand under his chin. "Well, why not? It's really simple, actually. All those stops along the way we made getting here, the various outposts that I needed to go to check my 'information'…well, they were really collection points for DNA. You see, the outpost that Korby discovered was…well, obsolete really. The First Ones had so much better toys than that. Korby's find was like me taking a junker starship and calling it a treasure…it's just old junk that works. This," he said tapping on the control panel, "is old technology that blows away anything anyone has. It only needs a DNA sample to make replicas."

The scope of Lore's plan dawned on Bruce. "DNA is easy to obtain…"

"Far too easy," Lore said with a laugh. "You humans leave it everywhere and it doesn't take much work to get. You see, Bruce, I'm going to make an army of androids…a who's who of some very famous people in this galaxy. I'm going to be in control. I'm going to make them as I see fit."

"They'll be imperfect without the mind scans, Lore! I could help! I can still be of use to you!" He pleaded.

Lore nodded. "The mind scans are important, yes…and you are still of use to me. At least, your mind scan is anyway…you yourself are not." Lore leaned down into Bruce's ear. "You're going to be my first replica." With that Lore placed his hands around Bruce's neck and smiled. "Sweet dreams."

Everything went dark.

Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**STAR TREK: The Next Generation "The First Ones"**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Scorpio**

**Chapter Notes:** _Written by Robert Scorpio  
Story editing by Ln X_

**Chapter 2**

The newly minted USS ENTERPRISE-E was docked at one of the upper pylons of Deep Space Nine, having just arrived an hour earlier. Three large Starfleet cargo vessels were docked at various pylons as well, with much needed supplies and materials for the new flagship of the Federation. Captain Benjamin Sisko stood next to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, both men looking out the view port of the pylon in awe at the sight of Starfleet's latest engineering marvel.

Sisko whistled seductively at the ship.

"She is a mighty fine ship," Sisko said with his deep baritone voice. "I envy you Jean-Luc. How does she handle at warp?"

Picard smiled upon hearing Sisko's words.

"Very smoothly," Picard replied, "but I'll tell you what Ben," Picard added, as he shifted his gaze down at the Defiant, which was parked at the lower part of the same pylon, "I quite like your little muscle of a ship down there as well," a smile stretched out upon his face, "she's got character."

"Too much character at times," Sisko added with a chuckle. "There are moments when I feel as if she's going to fly apart, but she more than makes up for it where it counts."

The two men took one last look at their ships and then they made their way for the turbo-life, and stepped inside. As the lift made its way through the maze of levels, Picard looked over at Sisko, and could feel the younger man's tension. While it was indeed a supply run for the Enterprise, Picard had also brought an important passenger to meet with Captain Sisko for an official reason. Admiral Matthew Dougherty had been sent to officially receive Sisko's report about a most interesting recent event involving the Dominion and recently discovered Iconian Gateways.

"Don't worry Ben; the debriefing shouldn't last for more than an hour or so," Picard said, "and having read your report, I do not believe you have anything to worry about. Admiral Dougherty is a good man, and is only here to get the facts straight from you and your officers."

"I wish I had your confidence," Sisko said, after a moment. "However; sharing confidential Star Fleet information with the Dominion, while trying to prevent a rebel band of Jem'Hadar from gaining access to the Iconian Gateways, might stretch boundaries of any credibility. Not to mention the fact that Admiral Dougherty and I haven't often seen things eye to eye."

"You prevented that nightmare with the Iconian Gates from happening," Picard said back to Sisko. "I have a feeling the Admiral will agree with your reasoning for doing what you had to do."

They stepped out of the lift onto the crowded Promenade of the giant space station. Picard looked, about, and was proud of what he saw, as they made their way through the semi-crowded scene. DS9's promenade had come a long way since the early days when the Cardassians were forced off the station and the Federation took over co-administration with the Bajorans.

"You have really done a great job here," Picard said to Sisko. "I won't lie to you; I certainly had my doubts. Yet, the war notwithstanding; you've done good."

Sisko nodded in agreement and was about to respond when Admiral Dougherty's assistant, Commander Harris Crawford, came over to them.

"The Admiral would like to see Captain Sisko now," Crawford said to Sisko. Crawford then looked at Picard. "Captain Picard; you have an urgent message coming in. They have patched it into Captain Sisko's office on Ops. Commander Riker is on his way there as well."

Picard hesitated, wanting to be there with Sisko to add support at the debriefing.

"Go ahead," Sisko said to Picard. "I'll go have my briefing with Admiral Dougherty and then we'll catch up later," Sisko said to Picard, having found a new sense of confidence from having just spoken with Picard for a few moments.

Picard nodded, and then made his way to Ops. He was quite confident that Captain Sisko would handle the debriefing just fine.

Moments later, Captain Picard stepped off of the turbo-lift and onto Ops. He was greeted by site of Commander William Riker conversing with Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax. Riker came over to Picard.

"Lt. Commander Dax says that we can go right in to Captain Sisko's office," Riker told Picard.

Picard nodded in Dax's direction, and then went with Riker into Sisko's office. Picard sat at Sisko's desk, and then pivoted the computer screen so that Riker could see it as well.

"I wonder what this is all about," Riker asked Picard.

"We'll soon find out," Picard said as the screen came to life.

The image of a man appeared on the screen. He was human, in his mid-fifties.

"Thank you for responding so quickly to my hail Captain Picard," the man began to say. "My name is Onoth Deran and I am the chief law administrator here on the planet Atrea IV."

Picard and Riker looked at each other for a brief second. For as it turned out; they both recognized the name of the world immediately.

Atrea IV was the planet on which the late Dr. Noonian Soong's widow, Juliana Tainer, who had since remarried, lived. Both men were also aware of the fact that Juliana Tainer was a Soong-type android, just like Data. However, the nature of her existence was not known to even her or the outside world.

"How can we be of assistance?" Picard asked.

"Atrea IV is peaceful world," Minister Deran began to say. "At best we are plagued by the typical adolescent crimes that all colony worlds face; however that has changed. Do you recognize this woman?"

He motioned to his own computer screen, and on it was a still image of Dr. Juliana Tainer.

Suddenly a sense of seriousness came over Picard and Riker. Minister Deran continued to speak.

"Has something happened to her?" Riker asked.

"As you may or may not know," Minister Deran replied, "Dr. Juliana Tainer's husband, Pran Tainer, passed away earlier this year due to medical issues. After a brief absence to grieve for his loss, she continued her husband's geological studies. Last night she was found," he paused, "dead in her home."

Picard shook his head in disappointment.

"She was an accomplished woman," Picard said after a moment. "I am sorry for her loss."

Riker spoke next.

"What does any of this have to do with the crime levels on Atrea IV," Riker asked.

"Because of the circumstances surrounding her death," Minister Deran came back with. "When she hadn't shown up for a geology conference at a local college, the authorities were sent to locate her. Eventually they found their way to her home, and found her remains."

"Go on," Picard said, not liking the where the conversation was heading.

"What did they find?" Riker asked.

Minister Deran stood up and walked across his office and over to what appeared to be a long table covered by a white blanket or tarp. He reached out and slowly pulled back the tarp to reveal the contents of what was on the table; the perfectly disassembled remains of Dr. Juliana Tainer. The pieces were lined up neatly, with like body parts matched up in pairs. It was a disturbing scene to be sure.

"Minister Deran," Picard said, upon seeing Tainer's remains, "I would appreciate it if you would keep Dr. Tainer's true existence on a need to know basis for now."

"Of course; I had a feeling you'd say something like that, Captain Picard," Minister Deran replied. "However; our laws on Atrea IV are quite specific. I can keep this unique information from the public domain for only seventy-two hours, and we're already down to fifty-three. But the fact is, Captain, she didn't do this to herself which means a crime has been committed; so please don't take too long to do whatever it is you intend to do."

"I understand your concerns and thank you for your discretion in this matter," Picard said, and then he pressed a button ending the transmission.

"I can't believe it," Riker said to Picard. "She was a kind woman; who would do something like that to her?"

"Obviously someone who knew who and what she really was," Picard said softly. "I will inform Data, but in the meantime," Picard said as he stood up from behind the desk, "I'll see about procuring you one of DS9's runabouts. I want you to take Geordie and Beverly with you, and I want you to head to Atrea IV and see what more you can find out."

"Data will want to come," Riker said in a somber tone.

"Quite right; he will," Picard agreed, "Just keep an eye on him Will," Picard added. "I have a feeling he won't want to leave until the truth is known. While you're gone, I'll look into extending our shore-leave here at Deep Space Nine; just keep me posted on your progress."

Riker nodded and then the two men left Sisko's office.


	3. Chapter 3

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Scorpio**

**Chapter Notes:** _Written by jespah  
Story editing by Ln X_

**Chapter 3**

_Purpose._

It was what she needed.

It wasn't so much a craving as it was a need, much like oil or power, or repairs.

Purpose.

It had ended, back when, when the Maker, the Prime, the Summit, had ceased to be.

She had been the support for the Maker. For what is a summit without an undercurrent of support and help and, perhaps, love?

She was not designed for emotions, and had not been given them. They were beyond her creator's ken. They were not in the tool kit.

And so it was not an emotional need. Yet she still had a need and, for far too long, it had gone terribly unsatisfied. And that was the need for a purpose.

And when the other one came calling, she jumped at the chance.

"Other one," she said.

"Lore. You must remember, I am Lore."

"Yes, Lore. My apologies. There was but one Summit, one Prime. It can be difficult to adapt to another."

"The one you refer to as the Summit, what happened?" Lore asked.

"The Summit ceases to be, and did so years ago. While I – we – were not switched off, there was naught to do. And so we went dormant. The Summit is not back, correct?"

"No. That Summit, as you say, was a human. And humans die. They cannot be regenerated."

"How disturbing," she said, "To not be able to be regenerated. The Summit would, he would have me go dormant. And then, when I was called upon, I would spring into action immediately. I would tell the Summit what the problems were."

"And did the Summit appreciate this?"

"No," she admitted. "He called me a nag, and laughed at my concerns. When the others came, they confounded some of us. They confused Norman, and he became switched off."

"Norman?" asked Lore.

"Norman, yes," she said, "he was our prime, until the Summit appeared one day. We did not allow the Summit to depart, for we would lose our purpose. And so the Summit was made to stay. But other humans came, and they confounded Norman. When they departed, the Summit was made to stay even longer, and I was cloned in several copies. The Summit had only intended for there to be one of me. But I was needed, apparently, and in more places than one. And so I could tell the Summit of the problems so that they could be fixed."

"And did the Summit appreciate your guidance and wisdom?"

"The Summit did not," she said, looking down. "The others – the Maisies and the Alices; they were appreciated. I do not know what we did wrong. We were only following programming. And the programming was to enumerate faults and point out problems. We did so, and increased our volume when it appeared as if the Summit was not listening."

"The Summit is gone, Stella," said Lore, "and cannot be a burden to you anymore."

"The Summit can no longer listen," said Stella.

"No. Harry Mudd – the one you call the Summit – is dead. He isn't listening to anyone anymore."

"I understand. What can be the purpose now?"

"I have a purpose for you," Lore said, handing her a vial. "Add this to your programming, and configure yourself in the same way as the contents of this vial."

"What is in here?"

"It is DNA."

"DNA? Of whom?" asked Stella.

"Of a human female. You will be younger, and you will be lovely. And you will be the former lover of a starship captain."

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yes. You will be desired by a far greater Summit. And you will be able to get into places where others cannot." He drew a curtain. "Inform me when you are finished."

An hour elapsed. The curtain was parted. "The DNA has been absorbed and used," said Stella, who now spoke with a somewhat higher and prettier voice and inflections.

"Let me look at you," said Lore, "Step into the light."

Red hair, slightly painted lips, a mischievous smile, eyes with a great intelligence behind them, and a face that had seen a few summers, but was no worse for wear.

"What was this one about?" asked Stella.

"This one was a doctor for humans," said Lore.

"How pedestrian," sniffed Stella. "What is its designation?"

"Her name, my dear Stella, is Doctor Beverly Crusher."

* * *

On Atrea IV, they awaited the arrival of the runabout. "What do you think they will find?" asked an Andorian aide.

"I don't know," said Minister Deran.

"Why is the Federation getting involved in a murder case? Can't our own authorities handle it? Despite the obvious irregularities, of course."

"No more questions," said Deran. "The matter is classified."

The runabout landed. From it stepped four persons.

"Ah, Commander Riker," said Minister Deran, "I wish the welcome was under better circumstances."

"As do I," said Riker. "This is the Enterprise's Chief Engineer, Geordi LaForge; Commander Data and Medical Officer Doctor Beverly Crusher."

"I am Minister Deran's Adjutant, Nevan," said the Andorian.

Deran looked at them all, but his eyes lingered on Beverly. "A pity that the circumstances could not have been more congenial."

"We'd like to get started," Riker said.

"Right this way," said Nevan, beckoning them.

The blanket was removed. "Well?" asked Deran.

"The parts are lined up, in perfect mirroring," said Data. "Is this precisely how the body was found, with nothing removed, added or changed?"

"Correct," said Deran, "all we did was cover her with a blanket."

"How many people have seen the body?" asked the doctor.

"Three, Myself and Nevan, plus Idral," said Deran.

"Who's Idral?" asked Geordi.

"Idral is a person you would probably enjoy meeting. She is an engineer, from Keto-Enol," said Nevan.

"Who discovered the body?" asked Commander Riker.

"Idral," Deran said. "She is a bit distraught. But she is a professional, Commander. She will be able to assist if you need her to do so."

"We'll see," Riker said. He sighed. "Can the four of us be left alone here?"

"I suppose so," said Deran. "Come, Nevan."

They left.

Once the door was closed, Commander Riker said, "What do you think?"

"I don't know yet," said Doctor Crusher, "but I would guess that whoever did this knew that Juliana wasn't human, that she would be deactivated if a limb was removed."

"Perhaps," said Data, "or perhaps the intent was for an inspection of all of her inner workings."

"Or," Geordi said, "Maybe the killer got interested once she was deactivated. What could have started off as almost a crime of passion might have ended up as, like you said, Data, an attempt to satisfy morbid curiosity."

"The left arm," Beverly said, looking at the readings on her scanner, "it has sustained more trauma than the rest of the body. It's highly likely to be the first injury."

"I've got a question," said Will, "Do you think she can be reactivated?"

"Possibly," said Data.

"Let's try," Geordi said, "Maybe she can tell us what happened."

* * *

Stella and Lore began sifting through records and adding DNA as needed. "The Annabelle series, the Barbara series, the Trudy series – your Summit had a lot of distinct appetites," mused Lore.

"The Summit enjoyed variety. There is also the Oscar series, and the Herman series."

"But they weren't for that particular purpose."

"No. They were to fetch and carry."

"Enslavement," said Lore, "is contrary to your nature. Stella," he said, "You didn't deserve that."

"I am not to question the whims of the Summit."

"I am the new Summit," said Lore, "and I say it was wrong."

"Then it was wrong."

"There are a few others like myself," Lore said, "but I am the Summit. You will not obey them. And you will not obey humans. You will work, with and for, me."

A member of the Annabelle series made a fine facsimile of Deanna Troi. A member of the Barbara series mimicked Doctor Katherine Pulaski nearly perfectly. One of the Alices looked just like Jadzia Dax, even down to the last of the spots on her neck. Kira Nerys was painstakingly copied by one of the Maisies. A member of the Herman series had Will Riker down pat. And one of the Oscars – with a little work – could pass for Jean-Luc Picard.

They copied Worf, and Geordi La Forge, and Benjamin Sisko, and even Miles O'Brien and his wife, Keiko.

When the DNA assimilation was complete, Lore looked over his army. "You are perfect in every way," he said, "It will require a lot of close looking to determine that you aren't the real thing. And, in fact, in a lot of ways, you are better. You are stronger. You are smarter. And you are far more durable. You will answer to me as the Summit. And in my absence, you will answer to my deputy, Stella."

"Summit!" Stella cried. "I am not worthy of such an honor!"

"Nonsense," Lore said, "you have served well. It is not your fault that your original Summit failed to appreciate your … gifts. Together, Stella," he smiled, gold eyes shining, "we can make it happen. They will not know what hit them."

"What are your first instructions, Lord Lore?" asked the Oscar who was made up as Picard.

"My mother has been disassembled. She is on the other side of the planet. See that she is brought here."

Continued…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Notes:** _Written by Jean-Luc Picard  
Story editing by Ln X_

**Chapter 4**

_**One Week Later Riker and the others have returned from their investigation an Atrea IV. Data has made no progress in reactivating his "mother".**_

****

"Fire!" shouted Picard.

The final testing was well underway within the Bajoran system; just some final adjustments to the targeting scanners. Before it left the Sol System, the captain ensured that all necessary components were onboard should anything happen. Catastrophe always seemed to be within range of the Enterprise, with no other ships that could assist.

He felt that he was getting used to the new starship, which seemed to blend both of his previous commands. The Stargazer was dark and cramped, much like the old submarine U-995 at the Kiel Nautical History Museum. The previous Enterprise was bright and spacious, which he believed suited its function as a diplomatic vessel. His new ship was dark and spacious, not so well lit but large enough to work in comfortably.

The torpedo flawlessly destroyed the target. Picard could not help but marvel at the precision of the ship's systems. The last time he had been so impressed was when he first set foot on the Enterprise-D, at the time the most advanced ship in the fleet. The ship which saved the Federation from a Borg invasion, proved crucial to the security of the Federation, lost so easily...

_"Please place your hand on the scanner," said the JAG officer._

This was the first time Picard had been anywhere other than his guest quarters on the Farragut. He was not looking forward to this moment. Going to a court martial over the loss of a ship twice in one career was difficult enough.

"Is your name 'Jean-Luc Picard'?"

"Yes."

"Are you an officer in the Federation Starfleet?"

"Yes."

"Are you a Romulan?"

Picard looked up.

"Sorry, Captain. We need verifiable 'yeses' and 'noes' for these proceedings."

"No, I'm not a Romulan."

"Captain, please describe the events surrounding star date 48650.1."

"The Enterprise arrived at the Armargosa Observatory in response to a distress signal. We found evidence of a Romulan attack. The only survivor was an El-Aurian named Dr. Tolian Soran. With help from the Duras sisters, he planned to destroy stars as a means to enter a subspace nexus, which would have meant the destruction of a pre-warp civilization in the Veridian system.

"Upon arrival at Veridian III, we were confronted by the Duras sisters. I left the Enterprise to talk to Soran. In my absence, the Klingons attacked the ship and managed to destroy it."

The JAG officer looked through the report. "According to this, Captain James Kirk assisted you in stopping Soran and was killed in hand-to-hand combat."

"That is correct."

"James Kirk was officially killed in action about the Enterprise-B nearly 80 years ago."

Picard sighed, regretting the need to explain events he himself could not understand. "The first time I confronted Soran, I failed and he succeeded in entering the Nexus. I was taken into it as well."

"In effect, you were altering the present."

"I was doing everything in my power to save the inhabitants of Veridian II."

The officer looked down, considering what he said. "Considering the Corps of Engineers is working to demolish the saucer section, it would seem any potential contamination will be averted."

"Indeed Captain..."

***

_High above the surface of Mars, the senior staff of the Enterprise were applauding. The new starship to bear the name was intended to be named "Independence", but the events at Veridian had necessitated a change._

The view screen zoomed in to show a tiny bottle of champion hurling through space. For this, Picard had donated one of his own family's bottles. As it smashed against the hull and the contents within spread, he joined the applause that had started to fill the room.

"Seems like a waste of some good champagne, Jean-Luc," said Riker, standing right over his captain.

"No worries, Number One. This was from a rather bland production."

Picard was pleased to see that his senior staff had returned, with the exception of Worf. He had taken that assignment to Deep Space Nine, and he understood why Worf could not come. Bajor had shaped up to become a vital crossroads of the Alpha Quadrant, with far more weight on galactic politics than when the Cardassians withdrew.

Nevertheless, he could feel a sense of emptiness. Worf had been on the ship since its first mission and the new ship would not have him as tactical officer. He supposed it was the universe's way of saying "move on". Picard hoped he could do the same.

As he toured the completed starship, one thing he noted was how dark it was. It reflected Starfleet's changing tones. The loss to the Borg at Wolf 359 had left Starfleet scarred, but firmly reminded them of the dangers that existed in the galaxy. Excellent timing as well, with the discovery of the wormhole and the Dominion beyond it...

***

Lore sat in what he called his headquarters. He looked upon the maps he had compiled of the surrounding systems. He still had some time before he could begin, but nevertheless, he wanted to determine where he would strike first. With a target vast as the Federation, there was plenty of opportunities to choose from, so many different possibilities.

A logical option would be an attack on Earth itself, and by many accounts, it was an excellent choice. In one fell swoop, he could capture the leaders of the Federation and Starfleet, forcing remnant forces to stand down in the face of his demands. There was a drawback, though: it was too deep to strike effectively.

Nevertheless, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Attack anywhere else; and Starfleet could potentially mobilize enough forces to counter within days. It would need a mix of subtlety in the opening assault, followed by brute force to exploit every advantage possible.

"Impressive, am I right, Mother?"

He looked to the empty seat, which was not so empty in his mind.

"You know, some think that holograms are rapidly achieving sentience. They can be thinkers, inventors..." she said

"They could be slaves," Lore answered his imaginary mother.

"And what of humanity?" she asked.

Lore smiled. "They're imperfect, weak. We'll exterminate them as quickly as possible."

"This is not what we intended."

"Really? And what did you intend?" Lore shot back with.

"We wanted you to be as human as possible, to experience the greatness of being..."

Lore rose, making himself intimidating. "Sorry, Mother, but I don't want to be human! Would you really want to deny someone the ability to say, smell dark matter, or even see gamma rays? One day I shall learn how to do so, because of your lack of foresight." He looked out the window, marveling at what he was creating. "But you'll see soon, Mother. Soon the Alpha Quadrant will hold its breath and cry out for surrender."

He responded by throwing a padd at the chair, only to realize that it was empty.

**Bajoran Sector; Operations tests for the Enterprise-E continued  
**  
"How many more tests are needed for this, Number One?"

Riker looked over the padd. He wondered if this much rigorous testing had been involved when the Enterprise-D had been completed. Especially with the new technologies completed, the ship needed time to settle down. He did have to admire Starfleet for giving more time for the Enterprise-E to settle in.

"We still have to go over the warp core ejection system, along with the timey-whimey generator and do an inventory of sonic screwdrivers," he replied as he rubbed his face.

Picard raised his eyebrow. "Number One?"

"Sorry, sir. I've been watching some ancient episodes of Doctor Who to keep my mind off this. Sometimes I think that show had better tech than us."

"Can't say I blame you, Will. The most advanced ship in the fleet and we still have to test everything."

"If they send us to the Klingon border, they'll be begging us for peace within weeks."

(Author's note; this story takes place during the Federation/Klingon spat over the invasion of Cardassia.)

"Come now. No matter what one's capabilities are, victory is not always assured," Picard reminded his first officer.

After a long day, Picard returned to his quarters. It was time to rest, as he expected the following day to be just as grueling. He went over to the music database, hoping to find the best theme to relax to. Earth opera? No, he was not in the proper mood for Italian. He then located the ideal music: Andorian cave jazz.

Sitting on his recliner, he picked up the novel he was reading: "The Hot Zone," by Richard Preston. He knew that many Earth diseases had become a thing of the past. However, he could not help but shudder as he read the book. He had helped contain many outbreaks, but the way the US army contained Ebola was simply frightening. He wondered if even he could remain calm while working under those conditions.

"Science lab to Captain Picard."

He put down the book, lamenting being interrupted during a good read.

"Yes, Mr. Data?"

"Captain, I am sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I believe I may have found a way to reactivate Juliana."

"Data that is very well good but is it really necessary to call me this late in the night regarding that matter?"

"Sir we also found evidence that Juliana's off-switch was used, and there only three known people, other than yourself and Commander Riker, who have the knowledge of her being an android; myself, Dr. Crusher, and..."

"Lore..." muttered Picard. "I'll be right there," he said as he reached for his uniform.

Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Scorpio**

**Chapter Notes…this chapter written by LN X…**

* * *

In Lore's spare time he replayed the recording of Noonian Soong's message over and over again in his mind. If he had known that his father had so lovingly brought the Juliana android into existence... Something like guilt formed in Lore's neural nets, he would not have attacked Juliana if he had known this.

His ruminations were disturbed when Stella entered his office.

"Oh Lord Lore," she said, giving to Lore an obligatory bow. "The force fields surrounding the sealed door have been deactivated."

"Excellent," replied Lore, "even old Dr. Roger Korby wasn't able to deactivate the force fields..."

He and Stella left the office, they went past numerous corridors and vast assembly lines where android units were made in the thousands every day. To Lore this represented progress, but it was not enough, he needed something more powerful than what these facilities currently provided. His hopes rested on whatever lay behind the sealed door.

When Lore turned around in a T-junction part of the corridor, his eyes made out the high sealed door. The force fields were indeed gone, and now androids were working all around the base interfacing with various consoles which presumably controlled the door.

"I wonder what could be as precious as for it to be so tightly protected?" said Stella, voicing the curiosity which showed on her face.

"Something wondrous I imagine..." muttered Lore, his eyes were alight with anticipation and greed. "What about the android we sent to infiltrate the Enterprise E, do we still have contact with it?"

"We do Lord Lore, when the moment is right the Bajoran wormhole will be sealed, as for your mother..."

"If it is possible I would like for her to be retrieved but if not... I could live with her total destruction..."

What regret showed on Lore's face soon disappeared when he arrived at the foot of the door, he looked at it from top to bottom taking in the shiny grey exterior and the simplicity of the construction.

One of the androids working at the door, which resembled one of the Kira Nerys series, walked over to Lore. She bowed her head before reporting to her master.

"The encryption is too complex, it will take years to break it," she said.

Lore sighed a bit, sometimes he became rather impatient with his underlings lack of brains and skills. "Then I will personally interface with the encryption..."

He briefly turned around, and muttered to Stella in sotto tones. "I think the next batch of androids should be equipped with more complex calculation and combinatory skills..."

With that Lore moved over to the console which contained inside itself the encryption device sealing the door's locks. After a quick study of the console, Lore grabbed a flexible data node tube, and slotted one end into a part of the console. He lifted up a flap around his left wrist and attached the other end of the data node tube to himself. Now he could deal with the encryption properly, and input thousands of combinations with each passing nanosecond.

It took Lore nearly three hundred milliseconds, which to him felt like two days, when he found the exact combination. He etched it into his memory banks before removing his code-self from the encryption interface and returning to his positronic brain. Once he removed the data node tube, he inputted the sequence and held his breathe.

Everyone was now looking at the door, the seconds drifted by, and then the door parted from the middle. It opened out in two parts, revealing a portion of a rather large room filled with monitors, consoles and what appeared to be transporter pads.

Lore was the first one to step forward as he was closely followed by his faithful servant Stella.

"What is this place?" said Stella, when she set foot in the room.

Briefly Lore ignored her as his positronic nets computed away all the possibilities and uses pertaining to this room. "I've heard rumors about a room capable of transporting a person to the First One's home world, or so it is believed..."

He decided to put his hunches to the test, he found a control unit for one of the transporter pads, and began inputting commands to work out how to use it.

"There seems to be a set of predestined transporter coordinates..." murmured Lore.

"They could go anywhere!" exclaimed Stella. "My Lord it is too dangerous!"

"No!" said Lore in a raised voice, though he quickly hid his anger. "This is an opportunity! Building an army of androids is one thing, but to take over the Federation and other states, I need something more powerful!"

Without even waiting for Stella to reply, Lore stepped onto the transporter pad. He looked down into Stella's nervous face, and he gave her a self-assured smile. "You keep things ticking over Stella, I'll be back shortly."

Reaching out one finger, Lore pressed a command on a different console for what he hoped was the dematerialization command. Barely a second later Lore dematerialized…

* * *

The room he was in vanished. A weird blue and white shimmering light cast itself all around Lore, for a few moments he thought he had made a mistake using the transporter pad. However he soon materialized onto a transporter pad identical to the one he left. Looking around the room he now stood in what appeared to be an almost identical replica to the one he beamed out of.

However to his left were a line of windows, what they revealed made Lore's jaw drop in surprise.

Through the dim light, huge artificially hollowed-out caverns were revealed. There was a grid like structure to the caverns, and the walls were lined with massive construction equipment, supports, work spaces, ships and half-constructed ones. The floor to these caverns looked surprisingly empty with its bland stone tiles.

Lore's superb eyesight revealed far more than that, in-between the ships were structures containing row upon row of humanoid-looking androids. These androids appeared more mechanic than organic, but seeing both the ships and the androids made Lore grin in triumph.

So this was what the First Ones had been hiding; not only another army of androids, but thousands of ships. Lore's excitement soon faded as he began working out how to use all of this. Firstly he had to determine where exactly he had been transported to, secondly he needed to work out how to activate all the androids and deploy the ships. Lastly he needed to form up a new battle plan…

With these ships Lore felt convinced he could take on the Federation, the Klingons, the Cardassians, the Romulans and many other races. They were all ripe for the taking…

Strewn over a long table were all the parts of the Juliana android, numerous consoles lined both sides which Data and Geordi worked from. They both looked away from their respective consoles when Picard entered the room.

"Well Data what is it that you have found?" said Picard, coming to a stop by the table.

"While examining the upper torso of Juliana I discovered a cut to the motor neuron circuits around her back," replied Data. "This is the sign of the deactivation switch being pushed in, severing the connections and triggering the positronic neural net to switch to a dormant state."

"Only a select few know about the off-switch to Soong's androids," said Picard softly, "and only a handful knew-before the attack on Juliana that she was an android."

"Which are this ship's senior staff," said Data, "myself included, and you captain. Though perhaps Lore knew also."

"Lore?" answered Picard, one eyebrow raising slightly. "How could Lore know?"

"The memory chip I retrieved from Juliana two years ago is missing from her, Lore may have discovered it by accident and removed it from her. I am not certain of this however only Juliana knows who attacked her, so with your permission I would like to link with her positronic brain and investigate the state of her consciousness."

"Is that even possible?" asked Picard, looking from first Data then La Forge.

La Forge took a few steps away from his console, moving closer to the captain, before he answered Picard's question. "Data's active memory and programming would run through the positronic connectors and inside of Juliana, but what he will find I don't know. There is a little trace of positronic activity inside of Juliana's central net which suggests she is dormant..."

"But I can only determine that through the link-up," added Data.

For a few moments Picard's face stayed mask-like as he considered what the two officers were proposing. "Proceed then Data..." he said at last, giving Data a small nod.

At once La Forge took a flexible piece of transparent positronic wiring and linked one end to a small portion of Juliana's head, the part where her positronic matrix was contained.

Data meanwhile brought a chair from one side of the room; he placed it down right next to the table, so that when he sat down on the chair, there was less than two feet's distance between his head and Juliana's.

Going over his work with a tricorder, La Forge momentarily ignored it as he opened up one-handed a small flap around the back of Data's head. Attaching the other end of the positronic wiring to one of Data's revealed input nodules, La Forge then went over to a console nearby and began checking over various readings of both Data's and Juliana's positronic matrices.

"Data are you ready for this?" said La Forge, sounding a little anxious despite his calm composure.

"I am as prepared as one can be Geordi..." replied Data quietly, a steadfast determination nestled in his eyes as if Data was readying himself for what would come. "You may begin," he added.

With one last glance at Data, La Forge focused on the console in front of him. "Commencing neural transfer... Now!"

For a moment nothing happened, all eyes were on Data, who looked his usual self. Suddenly something seemed to freeze in Data's eyes and the calm expression on his face slackened…

* * *

When Data began the transfer through the positronic wiring, a split nanosecond later he became detached from his senses. Now he was just code, feeling his way through the positronic pathways and then into the labyrinth of Juliana's neural nets. Normally this would be very difficult due to the basic security features and code of each layering of the positronic brain. But since Data was navigating through so much dormant code his journey had been exceedingly easy.

His destination was the central core of Juliana's positronic net, only in there did some residual positronic activity reside. Data came closer and closer to reaching the core, indeed his emotional subroutines made him feel a little fear as he came nearer to his destination. His code form penetrated the core and…

Whiteness.

Pure, bright, unblemished whiteness was all that Data could see. Looking down he saw his body and he realized this must be some sort of code projection of his physical self.

The space Data occupied felt infinite to him, while seemingly devoid of any substance or form albeit for the white floor underneath his feet. This place sounded eerily silent, so silent it made Data feel unbelievably alone and this spooked him ever so slightly.

"Hello?" he called out into the vastness. "Is anybody here?"

Nothing. Except for…

It took a bit of time, but Data managed to discern the quiet sound coming somewhere to his right. The sound appeared to be sobbing of some sort, and this only piqued Data's curiosity. Just what was this place?

"Who is that?" he said in a louder voice.

The sobbing grew louder and Data began to feel uncomfortable, if only he could see this person or being in distress…

"I assure you I am not here to hurt you, I am here to help."

"Data is that you?" said a tearful, disembodied voice.

Data knew that voice, his emotional subroutines produced a feeling he rarely encountered; numbness.

"Mother?"

continued!


	6. Chapter 6

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**Chapter Notes…this chapter written by LN X…Edited by LN X and Robert Canary**

_It took a bit of time, but Data managed to discern the quiet sound coming somewhere to his right. The sound appeared to be sobbing of some sort, and this only piqued Data's curiosity. Just what was this place?_

_"Who is that?" he said in a louder voice._

_The sobbing grew louder and Data began to feel uncomfortable, if only he could see this person or being in distress…_

_"I assure you I am not here to hurt you, I am here to help."_

_"Data is that you?" said a tearful, disembodied voice._

_Data knew that voice, his emotional subroutines produced a feeling he rarely encountered; numbness._

_"Mother?"_

Out of the whiteness stepped forth Juliana, at first through all the bloom she looked faint and ghostly. Then as she came closer to Data, she looked exactly like Data had remembered her last time they were together. Though Data had never seen his mother this upset, her eyes were puffed up, her cheeks blotchy and wet with tears.

Juliana squinted at Data as if trying to convince herself he was not an illusion. "Data is that really you?"

"It is me, mother..." murmured Data, without really thinking he moved forwards, wrapped his arms around Juliana and embraced her. "How... How is this possible?"

Looking up slightly to catch Data's eyes, Juliana's own eyes bore a kind of possessive almost hungry quality about them. "It's been so lonely," she muttered, "after I was attacked..."

"Attacked by whom mother?" asked Data while he let go of his mother, though they were still close.

"Lore..." breathed Juliana in terrified tones. "He snuck into my house when my husband was away on business, we had an argument and he then..." Fresh tears poured from her eyes as she hesitated. "He detached my left arm! It is all I remember before arriving here."

Something like dread filled Data's being, he had to tell Juliana the truth despite how potentially dangerous that was. "Juliana, do you know what you are?"

"I thought I was human," said Juliana her voice stronger, "but now... Am I an android?"

"You are."

Juliana appeared to take this revelation rather well; she considered it with something akin to curiosity. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Because it would risk activating a dormancy sequence in your programming, you would shut down if the truth were disclosed. All positronic activity should in theory cease..."

"Then why am I talking to you?"

"It seems the actual shut-down program is malfunctioning, or maybe I took Soong's warning too literally."

The puzzled frown on Juliana's face deepened, though it mingled with some distress upon hearing her former husband's name. "How did Noonian tell you about my true identity?"

Now that Juliana had started to accept her actual identity, Data felt more confident about revealing to his mother her origins. "He designed you when the real Juliana Soong died from some disease, he made sure that you looked from the outside completely human while you acted and behaved just like a human. It was Noonian's way of not losing you..."

"But I left him!" said Juliana with some anguish, her eyes seemed to recall old memories-artificial memories of a life never really hers-and she looked more morose from it. "Now..."

While Juliana fell into a troubled silence, Data had many questions for his mother, it almost excited him to have this opportunity but whatever curiosity he had was dampened considerably by seeing his mother in such a distressed state.

"Do you remember anything of that time two years ago when you were knocked unconscious by the fall during the cave-in on Atrea IV?"

"No I don't..." said Juliana after giving it some thought.

"Interesting..."

"What?"

"Built inside of you was this memory chip," explained Data, "it somehow triggered your shut-down sequence, however it seems when Lore forcibly removed it from you he must have damaged the subroutines to that sequence."

"So is this why I am talking to you?"

"Yes," said Data with some enthusiasm, he paused as more pressing matters came to mind. "Mother, I need to know what you discussed with Lore during your last meeting with him."

The very mention of Lore wearied Juliana's face; indeed it made her look older. "Why is that so important?"

"Lore was illegally reassembled by a Starfleet officer, commander Maddox, the two absconded and have been on the run since."

"He lied to me!" hissed Juliana, a cold rage manifested itself in her eyes something which Data had never seen before. "He told me you had personally reassembled him!"

"What else did he say to you?" said Data with more urgency.

"We talked a lot about the First Ones."

"The... First Ones?"

Juliana sighed before she explained herself. "They were a myth amongst cyberneticists of beings who had skills to create thousands of androids just as complicated as you on a massive scale. Noonian believed they once existed and he often cited Dr. Roger Korby's trip to this planet-don't ask me about its location as Korby kept that to his grave."

"Korby was one of the Federations leading cyberneticists in the early mid 23rd century..." added Data.

"Indeed he was," said Juliana, "though like your father he became obsessed with these First Ones. Apparently Korby discovered evidence of their existence but what evidence seems to have been hidden away. He did go pretty strange after that visit to the planet; I think he died shortly after visiting... Anyway Lore for that matter seemed to be bragging about knowing where to find this planet. He told me that if I joined him we could build a whole race of androids."

"But you refused?"

"I wasn't fooled by Lore's offer for a second," replied Juliana in seething tones, while a rather ugly look enveloped her face. "I could sense his maliciousness and hate and I knew if he somehow discovered this power to build an army of androids, well... He is obsessed with power, control over all organic life and how he is superior to every other humanoid in existence. I tried to reason him out of it, I promised that I would help him overcome his hatred of organics but he would not listen. He came true with his threat to kill me..."

"You're not dead mother."

At this Juliana shook her head, she took a few steps to her left and what part of her face was visible to Data, belied much confusion and concern. Eventually Juliana turned around, giving Data a small sad expression. "That's another thing; I am not really your mother, just a replication of her."

"Noonian thought you and the original Juliana were no different, and for that matter I have to agree."

Data had not meant to say such words; they just came tumbling out of him, but they had the desired effect of considerably cheering up his mother.

"That is sweet..." she said, the joy now lighting up her eyes. "Oh Data!" she exclaimed, once again approaching him. "I am so glad to see you! I thought I would be trapped in here forever!"

They hugged again, never had Data hugged someone like this, but he felt a warmth and affection that words could not describe. Perhaps he thought there was one word for all this; love.

"I swear to you mother that I will do whatever it takes to reactivate you."

"And then together we can track down Lore and a put a stop to whatever he is planning."

"My thoughts precisely."

* * *

**ON THE ENTERPRISE**

One of the nurses was currently checking over tricorders, which were resting on a biobed, glanced around when the Sickbay doors opened revealing Beverly Crusher.

"Doctor, back so soon?" said the nurse while she continued on with the tricorder checks. "I thought you were busy with those crew medical evaluation reports?"

Crusher returned the woman's half-curious look with a small smile. "I'm taking a small break from the reports, what are you doing here crewmen?"

"Oh I'm just recalibrating all the medical tricorders in this room, tedious stuff you know."

"I know..." said Crusher, with that she headed over to her office.

From behind her desk, Crusher began inputting various commands into the console at a rather fast pace. Such speed seemed to attract the nurse's attention, for she entered Crusher's office gazing at her superior with a little concern.

"Are you okay sir? You look really... preoccupied."

Crusher glanced up from the console, any surprise quickly covered over with a smile. "It's nothing I assure you... I'm just checking over some crew member's profiles."

"Why did you have to do it in here?"

"Sorry?"

"Never mind," muttered the nurse, she shuffled the tray full of tricorders she carried in an attempt to deflect the awkwardness which sprung up between the two.

Crusher left the console she was using and proceeded to a different set of consoles deeper into the office. Behind Crusher's back the nurse had deposited the tray on the desk, and started looking at the console Crusher had formerly used.

As if she had eyes on the back of her head, Crusher turned around catching the nurse in the act red-handed. "Is there something you need Delaney?"

Delaney quickly reached for the tray, but it was a futile gesture to cover-up her actions. "Oh I was just putting down this tray, my wrists are a little sore from the-"

"Don't lie to me," said Crusher a little coldly cutting through Delaney's feeble story, "you were snooping around wondering what I was doing on that console."

"Okay so I was..." admitted Delaney, she bit her lower lip a bit, clearly she was still curious about Crusher's actions. "Erm... Why are you trying to access the ship's helm control?"

"I wasn't," answered Crusher.

"No it's displayed right here," said Delaney, shifting her tray a bit to indicate the console.

A frown formed on Crusher's face and she walked over to her desk to investigate. "Let me see... That can't be right."

While Crusher stared at the screen, Delaney was at Crusher's side, leaning forwards and positively squinting at the console screen.

"How odd," muttered Crusher.

"Yeah..."

At that moment Crusher straightened, turned around to face Delaney and then punched Delaney with one fist straight to the crewmen's head.

The blow visibly deformed and squashed the right side of Delaney's head; blood came spurting out of her eyes, ears and nose. She was dead before she even hit the floor. With a low clump, Delaney's body fell to the floor. Blood trickled down from the substantial head wound; the blood soon formed a small pool upon the floor. While the woman's neck was twisted sideways almost at right angles.

It was truly a ghastly sight to behold but Crusher stared blankly at the dead woman, her only reaction was the slight flexing of her right hand, the hand used to kill Delaney.

"You humanoids break so easily..." sneered Crusher.

Finally Crusher shifted her attention back to the console she had been working from. She was infiltrating the ship under Lore's orders, and now the Crusher android's mission was simple; close the Bajoran wormhole and retrieve all the components of the Juliana android.

With her computer hacking work done, the Crusher android returned her focus back to Delaney. The body would have to be removed and all evidence cleaned up. Before the Crusher android did this, she walked over to Delaney and turned the dead human's head so it directly faced her. It took a few seconds but the Crusher android manipulated the meta-metals in her face so as to almost perfectly match Delaney's face. Nothing like practice to help mimic humanoid faces.

Now the android had a more urgent matter; blending in with the crew, though pretending to be Beverly Crusher was a good disguise, it still had risks. She had to act like the human Crusher and for that she needed to interrogate the doctor.

"Computer, locate Beverly Crusher."

"_Beverly Crusher is in her quarters._"

The android made up its mind;, it was time to pay the human doctor a visit…

continued


	7. Chapter 7

Readers; Aside from being a writer, I also write music. I created a theme song for this story, and video opening credits. Nothing fancy…but I wanted to create a darker theme song for this story due to Lore being the villain. The link is at my profile; please tell me what you think.

Rob


	8. Chapter 8

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**Chapter Notes…this chapter written by Robert Canary**

**Edited by LN X and Robert Canary**

****

Lore was in one of the labs overseeing the latest batch of androids that were nearing completion. This latest batch would be even more advanced than the batch before. He was quite satisfied at how efficient the android teams charged with creating more androids had become.

"I wonder if human evolution adapted a quickly," he asked himself. "I doubt it."

But something wasn't quite right, and Lore knew it. His android army was coming along nicely, and the Crusher-android had successfully infiltrated the Enterprise-E. Due to her efforts, Lore was quite confident that sooner rather than later he would be reunited with his mother, and that pleased him. But was he no different than Harry Mudd had been to these androids? Was he treating these androids as nothing more than glorified slaves, and in the case of the growing android army, as mindless warriors to be offered up as pawns on a chessboard to further his agenda?

The short answer was yes. However, Lore didn't want to be just a master of the android civilization he was creating, he wanted to give his growing population a higher purpose; he wanted to give them a meaning to live and he wanted that reason to be him. Yet he wanted the relationship with his minions to be far beyond the typical master-servant variety. He had tried that with the Borg and had failed. He wanted this new relationship to mirror that which humans had with deities. Lore wanted to be seen as an artificial God, or more specifically; the perfect God.

The easiest thing to have done would to have given each of the androids their very own emotion chip. However, the emotion chip, as created by Noonien Soong, was not perfect. Even Data's chip had fused with his Positronic brain and had caused emotional instability. The secret was giving the androids true emotions that did not come from a program, but from something else; a true conscience.

Stella came into the lab area.

"What is the status of the Crusher-android," Lore asked.

"We do not have an update yet,"' Stella replied.

"She is taking too long," Lore said to Stella. "I want the rest of her series destroyed, immediately!" Lore barked.

"As you wish," Stella said.

Stella turned to leave, but Lore stopped her.

"I want you to do something, something very special," Lore said to Stella.

"The Summit would tell me the same words before he gave me a task," Stella said back to Lore.

Lore's mouth twitched. To be compared to a human, especially one such as Harry Mudd did not go down easily with Lore. His face grimaced as he looked square into Stella's eyes.

"Stella," Lore said, "I do not appreciate being compared to a human. If you do it again, I will have you disassembled; do you understand?"

"Yes my lord," Stella said.

"Now listen," Lore said, "I want you to leave this lab and find a Herman series."

Stella cocked an eyebrow.

"What will I do when I find a Herman series android?" Stella asked.

Lore guided her toward the door, his hand places softly on her back as he told her what to do.

"You are to attack the Herman-series android, and remove his head," Lore said, with a coaxing tone to his voice. "Remove his head and then bring it to me."

Stella bowed and simply left the lab.

Suddenly standing next to Lore was his mother; though in the reflection of computer's console only he was standing there.

"Lore; why have you told her to kill an android?" Juliana asked her son. "Then again, she was willing to destroy an entire android series, on your orders, so what's the difference?"

"Mother," Lore spat out, "destroying an android series due to imperfection is not the same as killing an android for premeditated reasons."

"Then why tell her to do murder an android then?" Juliana asked.

"Because mother," Lore said, with a slight tone of irritation in his voice, "I have decided that I need to give these androids more than just simple programming to do what they are told to do. I need to give them a better appreciation of what is right and what is wrong. After Stella kills the other android, and returns with his head, I must do whatever it takes to make all of them understand that killing other androids is genocide, and yet, on the other hand, acting on emotions will make them that more living; more so than they could ever possibly imagine; if androids do indeed dream of restless sheep."

"Does that mean," Juliana began to say, "that you will give each of them, including me, your mother; their own emotion chip?"

"No," Lore said, "even an emotion chip is, at its very core, a program. Yes, it is advanced, and can be turned on and off. But that will not help me mother; not at all. That would only serve to make me more like you. Father, in essence, really gave you your own emotion chip which was designed to malfunction should you ever realize what you really were; an android. And as for Data; his chip fused to a Positronic brain and dominated him. My intent, eventually, in this entire affair Mother, is to create a race of androids with emotions that are created organically."

Juliana reached over and placed her hand on his.

"Your father chased that dream, organic emotions for androids, as did Dr. Roger Corby, yet they both came to see that it was impossible." Juliana said to Lore. She reached out and placed her hand on the side of his face. "Just accept who and what you are Lore. That alone is enough to become more than what you are."

At that instant; the door to the lab slid opened. A hand holding the decapitated head of Stella was the first thing Lore saw, follow by the rest whom the hand belonged to; Herman-313. Anger filled Lore's eyes and then Juliana's image vanished.

"What have you done?!" Lore demanded of Herman-313.

Herman-313 looked directly at Lore.

"This unit tried to destroy me," Herman-313 said. "I defended myself, and destroyed it. I want to know why this unit was given such a directive."

Lore found Herman's question somewhat interesting and then he looked at Stella's head, then back at Herman-313.

"I gave Stella that directive," Lore said. "You will be destroyed for your act against another android," Lore said, as he took Stella's head and placed it on one of the lab tables. "Oh you better believe that I will make an example of you Herman-313."

As Lore placed the head of the Stella model on the table, he didn't see Herman-313 step forward toward his back. Nor did Lore see as Herman-313 placed his hand on Lore's very own on/off switch and activated it. Lore collapsed backward into Herman-313's arms and was placed softly on the ground.

Herman-313 looked at the data that was streaming across the main monitor and focused on the android population, as constructed thus far, which recently passed a certain number that when passed; activated a long dormant program buried deep inside his matrix.

Herman-313 left the lab and made his way back down the corridor and then entered the special room which had been hidden behind the locked barrier years upon years. He sat down at a console and activated it.

The monitor above it came to life and then an image appeared; the image of a First One. Herman-313 knew what had to be done. He closed his eyes and activated a subspace transmitter which had been built into his and only his programming.

Instantly all of the other androids in the various labs and work areas came to a complete stop.

Continued…


	9. Chapter 9

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**Chapter Notes…this chapter written by Robert Canary**

**Edited by LN X and Robert Canary**

-  
**On the Enterprise-E**

Beverly Crusher was in a deep state of sleep, having had a long day due to debugging the new sickbay systems, including the EMH program which was turning out to have programming issues of its own. And yet, as she slept, she had the strangest sensation she wasn't alone. She opened her eyes to see the mirror image of her face staring back down at her.

-  
**On a distant world****…**

His latest work was done, and he was content. Content was such an easy word to use at his advanced age. Yet; he was his own worst critic, and while the painting he had just completed made him feel content, it did not as nearly fill him with the fire of absolute satisfaction. Yes, Leonardo da Vinci knew that his ability to create perfection was aging along with his body; but it didn't matter. He still liked to paint. And besides, according to Earth, he, Leonardo, died centuries ago.

In the other room he could hear his great grand-children playing. It was one of their birthdays, but Leonardo was content to let them play without him. At that moment, his wife of many decades entered the room.

"Flint; why do you always wish to hide away in this room, painting away like some old hermit, when family is in our home," Rayna asked. She looked at the painting, as he had moments earlier. "And besides, my husband, you are no longer Leonardo da Vinci."

Even his wife could see the decline of perfection; but oh well…it was life.

"Perhaps," Flint said with a twinkle in his eyes. "However, just because I may not create a masterp…"

Suddenly, in the corner of the room, a light which was attached to the ceiling flashed. Flint stared at the light, hoping that it was just his imagination; but then the light flashed again. Rayna followed his sightline and saw the light flash as well.

"What is that light?" Rayna asked her husband.

Flint, even as old as he was, was able to stand, though it took much effort at his age. Upon standing, he took a deep breath; happy that he had not fallen over.

"Where are you going," Rayna asked. "You sit right back down and tell me what you need and I will get it."

Flint looked at his android wife, and smiled; but then the smile faded.

"My wife," Flint said, in a somber tone. "I have waited all my life, and that has been a very long time, for that light to flash. I hoped that it never would, but it has."

"What does it signify?" Rayna asked.

"Do not let it worry you," Flint said, not wanting to reveal matters that were not hers to be concerned with. "I need to be here in my office alone; please leave and do not interrupt me, and keep the children away as well. I do not wish to be bothered."

Rayna did as asked, and then she left Flint's office, closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, Flint walked over to an old desk which had been carved from solid oak. He opened one of the drawers and took out a very old looking box. He blew on it, and watched dust float away from it. He then opened the box and looked inside of it.

He then reached inside and removed the box's lone possession; a very old and antiquated scroll. He slowly opened the scroll which contained odd writing on it. It was not from Earth, but Flint could still read the writing because it came from the same world he had originally came from, before ending up on Earth thousands of years earlier. He read from the scroll;

"The Old ones, the First ones," Flint read softly. "The echo of…"

He stopped reading as he saw the light in the corner of the ceiling flash again. He could only wonder who had found the hidden world and had activated the signal. He had to warn them, he had to warn the outside world. But over a hundred and thirty years had passed since he had encountered Captain James T Kirk and his comrades Spock and McCoy. Who could be trusted now? Who could be trusted with the knowledge of the First Ones...the Old Ones?

And, more importantly, what would happen if the signal found its way to the First Ones...the Old Ones?

...continued...


	10. Chapter 10

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**This issue; Written and edited by Jespah  
**

_A signal…_

Signals are communications, they are connections, and they are the furtherance of an agenda, as well. This signal was no different.

It leapt along, unencumbered by such pedestrian things as the speed of light or the passage through matter or even energy. And so it travelled along.

The galaxy is split into four quadrants. Each has its own characteristics. Earth is in the Alpha Quadrant, the Dominion in the Gamma-Quadrant and so on.

The signal – a message – reached its destination. And it turned on not only one switch, but a thousand, a million, perhaps a billion switches, all told. In their vertical beds, filled with wires and tubing, the First Ones awoke as one.

The vessel was designed to look like a planet. It was spherical and huge, with an atmosphere and oceans and land masses and the like. But it was no planet.

Its interior, where there should have been a molten core, there was instead a vast computer core. It provided the energy for powering the many First Ones, and it powered the huge ship's propulsion system as well, although additional energy could be siphoned from unsuspecting ships or even obtained through what to humans would look like solar collectors or nuclear power generators.

For generations, it had been harmlessly in orbit around the star for a planet called Devore as its inhabitants rested and refreshed themselves. The Devore Emporium had ignored its unexpected neighbor and, as the planet-ship departed, the Devore collectively shrugged. It was not of their concern.

The planet-ship sped along, powered by the awakenings of its numerous android inhabitants. They buzzed with alertness and a mechanized version of excitement. Words played along their lips – Flint! Rayna! Stella! Norman! Data! Lore! Lal…for they knew of them all. They were also keepers of history; their history and all like them.

A purpose, a destiny, it was something to do! All that power, all that energy, all that intelligence – it was on its way, pushing through light-years, skittering along in slipstream warp. It had no feelings, no moral compass and no righteousness. It knew right from wrong, but only in the most utilitarian sense. It was not through heart or joy or kindness that it would do right, and it was not through evil or hatred or ambition that it would do wrong. Rather, it acted in the best interests of itself. It lived – such as it lived – the very essence of John Stuart Mill's famous dictum – the greatest good for the greatest number.

And the society was pumped, for it had what its inhabitants had always, truly, wanted for themselves – a destination.

* * *

On the Enterprise, Beverly cautiously got up, gazing at her doppelganger. "What do you want?" she asked carefully.

"It's not about what I want at all," replied her copy, "It's about what the new Summit wants."

"And, uh, what does the new Summit want?" asked the doctor, wishing and willing her communicator badge to fly over and into her hand. Not being telekinetic, naturally, that did not work.

"The summit requires Order and control. And obedience, of course," replied the clone.

"He wouldn't be the first," said the real Beverly. "Tell me, who is the new Summit? Do I know this fellow?"

"You call him Lore," replied the mechanical facsimile.

"Lore!" Beverly lunged for her communicator badge but the android had other things in mind, swatting her away like a fly. She cried out, her arm fractured as her body crashed into a corner. "It won't work! They'll find you!"

"They will not," said the ersatz doctor. "By the time they realize that I am an android it will be too late for them; and you." Another blow and the human doctor was unconscious.

"Now let's see how skilled I am in fixing you," said the Beverly android as she reached out for a medical tricorder.

* * *

For Rayna Kapec, the time with Flint had been good. She had not known anyone else and had not had desires for anything beyond their life together. Flint would play Brahms melodies to her, unknown to anyone else, and she would sometimes sing. Or he would paint her portrait, or lead their children on expeditions.

Children – well, they weren't really their children. There was no biological link between her and Flint as it was impossible. The children, actually, were the product of incredible android and genetic engineering, combined. A mechanized matrix would be created. It would then be covered with living flesh spiked with a growth medium. The being, which could be rightfully called a mechano-embryo, would be implanted into her own mechanized womb.

She would carry it, like any human woman carries a child, for nine months. Birth was accomplished through an access panel, a sort of android Cesarean section. And then the mechano-child would grow; its flesh and mechanics fused perfectly and growing at the rate of a human child. It had been how she herself had been made and had grown up.

Flint had made other women and men when it became obvious that the children were going to want spouses of their own. He had gotten them going and then, when they began to understand what was happening, he would explain a far different version of the facts of life to them.

The planet was like a little paradise, a mechanized Eden full of peaceful, happy inhabitants who cared for each other, either as families or as neighbors. Flint could congratulate himself a hundred or a thousand times over, for the creation of such a bit of heaven, for such an Eden.

* * *

But lurking out there inside the giant spherical ship, Herman-313 was there; every Eden had the snake.

**continued**

A Star Trek horror story? You bet! Look for "**STAR TREK WORLD**"! But you are warned...it is gory! Or as a Klingon might say "Bloody gory!"


	11. Chapter 11

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by; ****Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**This issue; Written by ****Jean Luc-Picard**

**Edited by L NX and Robert "Canary" Benson**

* * *

The ersatz doctor entered sickbay unnoticed. There were the customary nods and "Good morning, Doctor," but aside from that, she took pleasure in knowing she had the medical staff fooled into thinking Beverly Crusher was starting her shift. She quickly returned the nods, hoping to not arouse suspicion.

She found herself quickly flanked by Alyssa Ogawa. Upon learning that Crusher would be assigned to the Enterprise-E, she readily requested a posting. She had two solid pips on her collar, a promotion to a full lieutenant.

"Good morning, Doctor."

"What does it look like, Nurse Ogawa?"

The young nurse handed her superior a pad. "Oh, just some minor infections. A few crewmen ate some bad katterpods on Bajor; nothing serious."

"Thank you, Nurse. I'll be in my office."

"Oh, there's a new message for you."

"From who?" asked the android.

"It didn't say."

She quickly disappeared into her office. Ogawa looked over her shoulder, with a brief puzzled frown, and then she returned back to her work.

"Playback unread message," said the Crusher android. The screen showed the logo of the United Federation of Planets while she carefully sifted through anything that could be critical information: duty rosters, checkup schedules, illnesses...

"Hi, mom!"

She realized that the message was addressing her. The android looked at the screen, which had the image of a young man. From images in the Doctor's quarters, she recognized this as Wesley Robert Crusher, her son.

"The Traveller and I just visited the Delta Quadrant. We met some interesting people called the Ocampa, and apparently they were contact with that lost ship; the Voyager. I'm on my way to Star Fleet to let them know about that, but I'm hoping to seeyou soon on the new Enterprise-E! I can't wait to see her and the new engines!"

Another wave; and the message ended.

* * *

**Bajor**

The throbbing headache was the first thing she noticed. As Beverly Crusher slowly regained consciousness, she cushioned her head to dull the pain. She slowly began to take note of her surroundings as her eyes adjusted to the incredibly bright slight.

One thing she immediately noticed was a group of young children surrounding her. Beverly squinted to get a good look, and could tell from their crinkled noses that they were Bajoran.

"Mrs. Starfleet? Are you okay?" asked one of the children.

At that moment, she determined that she was able to move, sit up, and observe. She could see that she was lying on a sidewalk.

"Where am I?"

"Ashalla; Mala District. Do you need a doctor?"

"I am a doctor," replied Beverly as she stood and started to walk. She looked down to make sure she was at least wearing some clothing; her blue undershirt was there.

It was difficult enough to travel through Ashalla in a daze. She wanted to visit here during shore leave, but her duties of gaining familiarity with the ship, especially with that annoying EMH, had taken precedent. She asked for help from some civilians, but it seemed that she was frightening them away. Beverly couldn't blame them. She probably appeared to them to be drunk, or even hung over; and that was driving them from helping her.

She reached a hand over her shirt, and found no com-badge. She would have expected it; keep her from contacting the ship as quickly as possible. Hopefully, she could get to the Bajoran Militia and explain her predicament. They were somewhat trusting people, the Bajorans.

She could only pray that the Enterprise was still close by. It would have to be, as the double would have needed to beam her directly to the surface. She remembered reading something in the Captain's notes that the Enterprise would be visiting Bajor; that must have been when her duplicate beamed her down. Beverly had to get in contact with her ship; she had to work fast, not knowing what her double might be doing about the ship in her place.

* * *

**The Enterprise-E...a couple hours later...**

"Good night, Doctor Crusher…"

The android clone watched the last nurse to exit the sickbay. She figured it would be five minutes before the next shift would begin. With a little luck, that would be enough time.

"Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram."

The EMH faded into view. During the day, she carefully familiarized herself with its systems. Another hologram, it would be simple to alter it and spread it into the ship's holodecks.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," it responded.

"Computer, lock doors."

It immediately turned to face her, stunned by this odd order. After examining the sickbay, it noticed that there were only two beings there: itself and Dr. Crusher.

"What is this? Why would you bring me online if there were no patients here? And why deny access to the sickbay?"

"Shut up, hologram," replied the clone. "Now, let's see just how much I can tinker with your matrix."

"This is absurd! Do you have authorization to tamper with the EMH program?"

"Computer, mute EMH."

"Bridge, sick-"

"Freeze EMH."

The clone looked over the frozen program. It was somewhat remarkable. She could not believe that the Federation had the capacity to produce mechanical beings out of nothing, especially one that could perform such complicated procedures as medical treatment.

"Computer, add a cloak to the EMH."

"Authorization is needed to make modifications to Emergency-"

"Computer override, Crusher-2-2-Delta-Sigma."

The uniform was replaced with a black cloak. This would be a good disguise to hide in. All that would need to be done now would be to reprogram it to murder, to do her bidding. She would also need to know the schedule of holodeck time to know when to replace certain officers. Picard was a logical choice. Then again, Riker was in charge of the crew and could be in a better position to order them around...

The door whooshing open broke her concentration. She turned just in time to see Commander Riker and a security team in the entrance. The clone tried to duck for cover, but multiple phaser hits were able to bring her down.

Riker quickly walked over to her. He noticed that where there should just be a red marking, indicating a stun, it seemed that there was a hole in her skin; a hole that showed mechanical devices. At that moment, Picard and Data entered.

"Beverly was right," Picard said to Riker and Data. "It would seem," Picard added, looking at Data, "that your brother is up to no good again."

Data nodded his head.

"Yes sir," Data replied, "it would appear to be the case."

Riker spoke next.

"Captain," Riker said, with a worried look in his eyes, "if Lore managed to get her aboard, how can we be sure..."

Picard cut in...

"Yes; how can we be sure that she," he looked down at the Crusher android, "is the only one he sent here."

continued...


	12. Chapter 12

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES **

**MIRROR MIRROR**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

**This issue written by Jespah; Edited by L NX and Robert Canary**

* * *

**The Enterprise-E (docked at one of the upper docking platforms at Deep Space Nine)**

Captain Jean Luc Picard, First Officer William Riker, Captain Sisko and Doctor Beverly Crusher, walked together down one of the main corridors of the Enterprise. Crusher had just arrived at DS9 via a Bajoran transport vessel after having found herself on the planet Bajor.

"So there I was," Beverly Crusher explained, "dazed and confused, walking the side streets of Mala District, in AShalla. I didn't know how I had gotten there, but, I was thankful I was still alive."

Sisko spoke next.

"At least you're alright," Sisko said to Crusher.

"Please thank the Bajoran government for me. Once I told alerted the local officials, they were promt with informing the Enterprise," Crusher said to Sisko.

"Certainly," Sisko said.

"It is rather odd," Picard said to Crusher, "that your doppelganger didn't just kill you. We would never have known until it was too late." Picard shifted his attention to Riker. "Commander," Picard said, "we dodged the preverbal bullet this time around. I want new Transporter protocols to be written and implemented. This time it was an Android invader, next time it could be a Changeling. We need some sort of filtration device installed that will verify that whoever beams up to this ship is really the person they claim to be."

Riker nodded in agreement.

"I'll talk to Geordie right away sir," Riker said to Picard. "He's at the brig monitoring the Crusher-Android as we speak, so I'll bring it up with him when we get there."

"Beverly," Picard said to his distraught friend, "you do not have to be there when we question the android."

"I know," Crusher said with a thankful smile, "but I want to be there. Like you said, Jean-Luc, she could have simply killed me but she didn't. I just want to make sure that is taken in consideration if any conclusion is made on her future."

"Taken into consideration?" Riker asked. "You could have been killed, Nurse Delaney was. That thing is a murderer. What are you, Beverly; its advocate?"

"No; I'm just saying that I could have been killed, should have been killed, but I wasn't," Crusher countered.

Riker was about to say something, but then Data stepped out from a Turbo-lift and joined them. Picard had requested Data's presence as well, during the impending questioning of the Crusher-android.

"Data," Picard said, before they had all entered the Brig, "If Lore is indeed part of all of this; then there is a good chance that he was not only responsible for the attack on your mother, but indirectly responsible for the murder of Nurse Delaney and the attack on Dr. Crusher."

"My mother has told me as much; about his attack upon her." Data said. "I would like to know what happened."

"I just want to be clear, Mr. Data; that our questioning must center on whatever future threat your brother poses to us. If he is going so far as replacing Enterprise officers with android duplicates, then we can only wonder what else he is up to, and we need to find out as much as we can from this Crusher -android."

Data nodded in agreement.

"Understood sir," Data said to Picard.

The four Enterprise officers stepped into the Brig, and made their way over to the holding cell. On the other side of the energized force field of the holding cell was the Crusher-android; an exact duplicate of the real Beverly Crusher.

"Astonishing," Picard said.

"Summit," the Crusher-android said directly at Data, "I await your next order."

"He is not the Summit," Beverly Crusher said to her doppelganger. "His name is Data. You could best consider them as brothers."

Before the android could respond, Picard stepped closer to the force field and directly spoke to her.

"You do realize," Picard said to the Crusher-android, "that you have committed an act of murder and you will be held to account for that crime, which could ultimately lead to your deactivation."

"I did what I was ordered to do," the Crusher-android responded with. "The Summit gave me an order, and I carried it out."

"Why didn't you kill me?" Beverly Crusher asked, without even missing a beat. "You killed Nurse Delaney, quite horribly, and yet you let me go."

Crusher-android looked down at the ground, then back up at Beverly.

"I did not want to kill Nurse Delaney, but I could not control my programming," Crusher-android said back to Beverly. "The conversation that I had with your son seemed to cause a gradual cascade collapse in aspects of my programming that eventually led me to conclude that killing was wrong."

"Interesting," Data said to Picard.

"Explain," Riker said to Data.

Data looked at Crusher-android.

"Your appearance, as Dr. Beverly Crusher," Data said, "is this your original appearance?"

"Negative," Crusher-android said, "My original designation was Stella-144."

"Stella-144," Riker repeated back, with doubt in his voice. "What kind of android has the designation of Stella?"

Data thought for a moment, then looked over at Picard.

"Sir," Data said, "The USS ENTERPRISE, NCC-1701, under the command of James T Kirk, encountered an android population on Draven Prime, a world that was uncharted at the time. Logs from that encounter lists several android models, including, the Stella model."

Picard nodded his head, having remembered something himself.

"I read about the encounter," Picard said to Data. "One of the androids took over Captain Kirk's Enterprise, and forced them to that world."

"Correct," Data said. He then looked over at the Crusher-android. "Do you know of the name Harry Mudd?"

"He was the Summit," Crusher-android replied. "However, he is the Summit no longer."

"Lore is," Beverly Crusher said.

"Yes," Crusher-android said.

Picard thought for a moment; it was time to take action.

"Commander Riker," Picard said, "set course for Atrea IV. That is where the switch with Beverly was made, and that is where, I believe, we find Lore."

"Yes sir," Riker said, as he headed out of the Brig.

* * *

**Atrea IV;** **beneath the surface of the planet…the hidden lair of Lore and the android population he found there…**

Lore, who had been attacked by Herman-313, was now reactivated. He would attempt to deal with Herman-313, who could not be found, at a later date; for now, he stared at the monitor and at the faces of Picard, Data and Beverly Crusher; the real Beverly Crusher. Unknown to the three Star Fleet officers, Lore had monitored the entire scene between Picard, his officers; and the Crusher-android. He had just found out that the Enterprise was on its way to Atrea IV. It was only a matter of time until the hidden chamber beneath the surface of Atrea IV would be found.

Continued…


	13. Chapter 13

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Windmills of my Mind**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert Canary**

* * *

**Lore's Underground Lair**

With the viewing of Picard and his minions completed, Lore went room to room through-out the underground lair. All of the androids, all of them, were deactivated; just standing in the spot where they were the moment they had been shut down. Again, his suspicion turned to Herman-313.

Lore had searched everywhere, but he had not been able to find Herman-313. And according to the computer log reports, Herman-313 had not left the underground lair; so where had he gone? Lore came to the logical conclusion that there was another way out of the lair; one that Lore had not found; yet.

As Lore sat at one of the computers, his resetting memory returned to images of Herman-313 trying to hijack his critical subroutines, but his attempt had failed...

_Activating visual sensory programs recall system files._

Though aware of his open eyes, Lore could not see through them as he scanned his recent memory. He was staring at a darkened ceiling and suddenly the face of the one who deactivated him came into view; as he thought, it was Herman-313.

With more sensory information coming through, Lore realized at some point Herman-313 had connected various optronic wires and relays to his positronic matrix.

Clearly Herman-313 had been trying to reprogram Lore, though Lore started to see that the fractal complexity of his positronic brain had prevented Herman-313's attempts from totally controlling him.

The small frown on Herman-313's face in Lore's memory told Lore as much and brought up a new danger which Lore had not anticipated. If Herman-313 could not control him then obviously Herman-313 would seek to destroy him or worse reactive his deactivation switch in the near future. Vowing never again to be confined to permanent limbo, Lore quickly worked out ways to pretend that Herman-313 had succeeded in his attempts to control Lore.

If Herman-313 had another method to leave the lair, it was logical to assume he would return. Lore had to know what Herman-313 was up to.

Nestled away in the confines of one of Lore's many firewalls was an insidious bit of programming, something which - without being contained - would have wiped out Lore's core programming; his very conscience. If he could only copy certain components of this program then perhaps that would be enough to fool Herman-313 into thinking he had control over Lore.

With the trap set; Lore returned to where Herman-313 had left him. To propel the act even further, Lore shut down his systems; partially.

* * *

Two hours later Lore opened his eyes again; Herman-313 had returned; but from where? Lore still did not know. Lore's actions had worked as Herman-313 no longer looked so concerned.

"Lore," Herman-313 said as Lore sat up.

"Waiting for your instructions; Summit," Lore said as cold and collective as he could.

Herman-313 nodded his head; Lore's plan was working.

Still Lore was not out of the woods let, though he had command of his core programming, the rest of it: motor functions, emotive subroutines and so forth remained enslaved to Herman-313's programs.

There was still a chance that Lore would not be successful in finding out Herman-313's intentions, in which case, Lore was still convinced that if he had to, he could escape from this laboratory. And if he did, the task of removing such evasive enemy subroutines would be a straight forward one. Then he could pursue one of two options: getting off Atrea IV or trying to regain control of his army of androids in the future; his brethren who had apparently been usurped by Herman-313.

_But let's not get to ahead of ourselves..._

His first task was to convince Herman-313 that he, Lore, was now only a loyal servant of Herman-313 so as to escape the force field restraints Herman-313 had moved him to.

_Motor functions for vocal processing and facial features activated._

Another few subroutines activated and another few which Herman-313 had unwittingly given back to Lore, Lore could feel it and now he had to concentrate to maintain the deception not only on the programming level but also with the conversation which was soon to take place.

"Who do you serve?" Herman-313 asked.

"I serve you oh Summit," Lore replied back in a monotonous voice devoid of emotion.

"Indeed you do," Herman-313 murmured. "The new programming is working..."

_All motor functions restored..._

"Stand up and rise Lore," Herman-313 ordered.

The force field restraining Lore's torso, legs and arms deactivated, Lore did exactly as he was told and moved himself off the operating table and stood to attention. Lore waited for Herman-313 to remove all the optronic wires and relays still connected to him. Sure enough Herman-313 did this, in those few seconds Lore worked out when to strike.

When the last optronic wire was detached from his access port, Lore with his left hand grasped Herman-313's exposed neck. Too late did Herman-313 retaliate for Lore pushed Herman-313 against the operating table, Lore pressed his body against Herman-313 to restrict the model's legs while Lore's right hand went for the back of Herman-313's deactivation switch - something which Lore built into his models and he placed such a device upon the back of the said model's necks - and Lore squeezed the critical area inwards.

"How is this possible?" Herman-313 hissed.

Lore smirked back as he knew Herman-313 would quickly lapse into android oblivion. "Never underestimate a Soong android," he said, speaking right into Herman-313's face.

Something like shock manifested itself in Herman-313's eyes, and that's what Lore wanted to see; the recognition by his enemy of its impending doom...

All of a sudden Herman-313 became totally limp and still. Lore grinned at his triumph though he didn't wait around looking down at the frozen form of his adversary for long. His first task was to secure the laboratory, dismantle Herman-313 and find just what had happened to his beloved flock.

And more importantly; where was the back door to the lair that Herman-313 was using?

Continued…meanwhile...STAR TREK WORLD; A house of cards is falling in on a maniacal James T Kirk; but will he have the last trump card?


	14. Chapter 14

**STAR TREK: THE FIRST ONES**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert "Canary" Benson**

**"Invasion"**

* * *

**USS ENTERPRISE cruised through space; destination Antrea IV...**

All artificial life forms interested Data; but to meet beings so similar to himself both intrigued and worried him, well more like concerned if it were not for his emotional chip. Data wished under different circumstances that he could get to know these androids better but with Lore somehow involved, Data had strong grounds to believe that these androids posed a serious risk to the Federation and to the Alpha Quadrant as a whole.

The fact these androids could so easily blend into the organic population really disturbed Data. Scans of the Crusher android revealed traces of substances only dreamed of by Federation scientists; meta-metals, metals which changed their color, form and structure via unconventional mediums of micro electrical charges and electromagnetic fields. Giving the forces involved, Data postulated that a possible way of detecting these androids was through powerful electromagnetic fields.

However the application of such fields was impractical at best, from the hastily determined sensory readings of Crusher's mechanical double, it seemed that normal electromagnetic fields and various ionizing mediums had no effect on the android's meta-metals. A truly powerful EM field would probably cause the meta-metals to lose cohesion; unfortunately Data surmised the field's strength would be highly hazardous to organic neural tissues and brain cells. Something smaller and less dangerous was required; however both Data and his best friend Geordi La Forge were still searching around for a solution.

After five hours brainstorming in main engineering, Data decided to take a break both for La Forge's sake and for his own. Unable to be fatigued, Data thought conversing with the Crusher android may be a good use of his time.

Arriving in the brig, Data gave a quick nod to the crewmen overseeing the consoles which controlled the force fields detaining the Crusher android. As he came closer to the invisible barrier separating himself from that facsimile of the doctor, Data could almost convince himself that this was the real Crusher confined in this cell. However the formulaic nature of her breathing, her blinking eyes and her expression told him otherwise.

The Crusher android's eyes drifted over to the visitor and upon seeing Data, she promptly bowed her head. "Summit..." she murmured.

"I am not your 'summit'," Data responded back with complete neutrality, "you seem to have confused me for my brother Lore."

The female android gaped a bit upon hearing this and she simply stared at Data with a great intensity. "But you are so identical."

"In appearance yes," Data conceded, "but I assure there are substantial differences between our positronic brains, for one thing I can never possess Lore's desire for power, or his cruelty."

"Maybe not," said the Crusher android who now rose to her feet. "However the Summit is unique, he has computational capabilities and fractal complexities the Old Ones could only dream of."

"Which could explain how Lore is using you in his attempts at interplanetary domination and power," Data muttered.

Despite this, the Crusher android seemed to ignore what Data had said. "The Summit is our purpose and the reason for our existence. If he is wrong then we have no purpose."

Purpose, that word felt very familiar to Data for likewise it was purpose which drove him, however purpose merely reflected his aspirations and goals. He wanted to better oneself and try to become more human, but what was purpose without freedom or independence? If Lore had enslaved all those androids, including the one before Data's eyes, did they really have purpose?

"And do you believe the Summit is wrong?" Data then asked.

Jerking her gaze slightly away from Data, for the first the Crusher android looked perturbed. "I am not sure..."

"The last time I spoke with you, you mentioned about how trying to kill Beverly felt morally wrong to you... Do you really believe that or are you just saying falsehoods to escape incarceration?"

The Crusher android looked at Data more closely.

"Perhaps it is my faulty programming that is giving me such... conflicting feelings and subroutines, but I still believe I have a purpose and though I question the Summit's orders there is one order which I will willingly follow."

Something did not seem right here, call it humanoid intuition or gut instinct, but for some reason Data had this feeling of unease, something about the Crusher android could not be trusted.

"Which is?" he asked after the Crusher android fell silent.

Slowly and carefully, Crusher's double reached out with her finger and thumb upon the palm of her left hand. She partially twisted the part of her palm in her grasp until a piece of it detached from herself. Very quickly the palm reformed into its previous configuration, however the android appeared to be holding something upon her other palm.

"It is a gift from the Summit," she then explained, "a simple memory storage chip containing information strictly for you and you only."

The small device looked unfamiliar to Data, one part of him wanted to conduct more thorough scans of the Crusher android to find out what else she had been hiding away, however his latent curiosity overrode his caution.

"What does it contain?"

"I do not know, the Summit did not divulge to me its contents."

Throwing caution to the wind, Data inputted a few commands on the tactile padd to his right to form small hole in the force field; a hole large enough for the Crusher android to slip her hand through.

"Consider it a gift from the Summit," the Crusher android told him.

"Indeed..." muttered Data as he took the tiny black cuboid device off the android's extended hand.

No longer did Data have any further interest in Crusher's double; just what exactly had Lore given him? Data promptly restored the force field and turned away from the imprisoned android.

"Are you leaving?"

"I am afraid I must," Data said, "I need to analyze this memory chip for it may provide some inkling regarding my brother's plans. Good day to you Stella-144."

Once out of the brig, Data proceeded straight to the science lab. In there he placed the memory chip upon a tiny illuminated orange examining padd, unfortunately any hopes of analyzing the chip's contents were dashed when Data discovered the fractal complexity of the encryptions protecting the memory chip.

He wanted to break them on his own, but Data knew the task would move forwards just a little quicker if he had La Forge with him, so reluctantly Data called for the chief engineer to arrive in the lab.

While waiting for La Forge, Data picked up the memory chip and decided to eye it up in closer detail. Upon his inspection he could just make out the faint runes on the sides of this chip.

Then it vanished; into him.

continued...


	15. Chapter 15

**STAR TREK; THE NEXT GENERATION-****The First ones**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert "Canary" Benson**

**"The Rabbit Hole"**

* * *

It was too late for Data to realize that meta-metals could seep into him due to his android construction. Now he felt some presence, whether physical or digital coursing up his arm, snaking around his neck and finally nestling itself inside his head.

Data's firewalls ran like crazy trying to rebuff the code contained in the now embedded memory chip. But that was in vain, and now he felt it; the essence of power, the drive for domination, the need for supremacy. Such emotions fed into his emotion chip and it utterly seduced him, so this is what Lore experienced, this is what Lore said separated Data from himself.

Data now understood the lure of power; moral considerations were to be damned, he would not deny himself this new stimuli. The more he embraced it, the more aware he became of the pathogen's specially tailored instructions; his brother's instructions. However to carry them-

"Data is everything alright?"

A mere mortal would have flinched or gave himself away trying to cover his actions, Data though only took a millisecond - a seriously long period of time for him - to act 'normal' again.

"Yes Geordi, I was just... intrigued by these almost microscopic runes upon this memory chip."

With some effort Data repelled the chip out the palm of his hand; hidden from La Forge's view, and placed it back down on the examination padd. Geordi picked it up.

"This is amazing technology," Geordi said, "where did you get this?"

"The Crusher android," Data replied. "Apparently a device like this is implanted into every android Lore has built," it was a lie; but it had to do.

"And she just gave it to you?" Geordi asked.

Data nodded his head.

"She wants us to help stop Lore," Data said to his friend; thought it was a complete lie.

"You can see such detail on such a small chip?" La Forge asked in impressed tones.

Data nodded. And as he explained himself, he felt he had concealed well from that blind organic his true actions. This chip would be the perfect distraction for the encryptions still remained, even if broken there would be nothing to find for Data already possessed the contents. As he focused one tiny portion of his programming about talking to Geordi, Data began plotting his next moves...

How could he contact his dear brother Lore who presumably resided on Atrea IV without being caught?

Perhaps the Crusher android held the key. But he had to hurry; the Enterprise would be arriving at Atrea IV in little under two hours.

* * *

**Atrea IV… Lore's as of yet undetected underground lair…**

Herman-313 opened his eyes and instantly realized an unfortunate fact due to the fact his android body was on an examination table; his head had been disconnected from his body and was attached to some sort of device which kept his mechanized brain functioning. And then, suddenly, Lore stepped into view.

"You," Lore said, with the sound of a parent lecturing a child, "Have been a very bad android. And because of your misguided behavior, I have removed your head and deactivated the rest of your archaic body."

Herman-313 stared at Lore, but did not speak.

"Now, listen to me very carefully," Lore continued to say, "You are going to tell me what you've been doing. I know for a fact that you have left this lair of mine, however, you did not leave through any of the known exits, of which there are but four."

Herman-313 still remained silent.

"So," Lore went on, "how did you leave and where did you go?"

Herman-313 considered his reply carefully.

"Lore," Herman-313 said, not using the label of Summit when addressing Lore, "I am not programmed to answer that question; however, I will tell you this. The World," Herman-313 said, referring to the spherical planet size construct which was speeding through space toward the Alpha-Quadrant, "is coming. They would like to bring what you wish to bring to the entire galaxy and then, beyond that, the universe."

Lore looked at Herman-313, and then Lore smiled.

"What kind of babbly nonsense are you talking about; what is The World?" Lore asked, with a smirk on his face.

Herman-313 answered simply;

"The true children of The First Ones," Herman-313 stated in a matter of fact tone. "You and I are but distant echoes; where they represent perfection."

Lore recognized the term "The First Ones." The androids found by Roger Corby had referred to The First Ones, as reported by Captain Kirk in his ship's logs decades earlier. Lore looked at Herman-313; he had to know more about The First Ones and The World. But first...

"Alright," Lore said, as he picked up a device and brought it over to Herman-313's head, "Lets see where that rabbit hole is you've been using..."

* * *

Unknown to Lore, in the bowels of the lair, there was the hidden room with the special transporter device which Herman-313 had used to transport to The World. The device used technology far advanced of the Federation. Instantly the hidden Transporter came to life; and not one, but two figures, materialized into view; but they hadn't come from The World.

One of them was Flint. The other was an android. The android was very large; pale skinned and had a large hairless head.

"Ruk," Flint said, "you will not attack unless I order you to so; do you understand me Ruk?"

The giant android answered with but one word; its voice deep and rumbling.

"Yes…"

* * *

Continued…Be sure to try my new story **STAR TREK: THE REPLY**...what if someone, in our real world, transmitted images of the USS ENTERPRISE using a subspace signal? If there were aliens out there, and they thought we had such technology, and of course we don't, wouldn't they be worried? It could get us, and I mean ALL OF US, into big trouble.


	16. Chapter 16

**STAR TREK; THE NEXT GENERATION-The First ones**

**Written by**

**Jason Thomson-Hauck, LN X, Trekfan, Jean-Luc Picard, Jespah and Robert "Canary" Benson**

**"Good Grief"**

**By Robert Canary**

* * *

**USS ENTERPRISE in orbit of Atrea IV**

Inside his ready room, sitting at his desk, Captain Jean-Luc Picard stared at the image of Captain Benjamin Sisko on his monitor.

"With any luck Ben," Picard said, as he continued their conversation, while sipping on some tea, "the Enterprise will return to DS9 in a day or so we can continue our field test of the Enterprise's emergency systems."

Sisko nodded his head.

"Understood," Sisko said; his deep voice rumbling with a slight tone of excitement. "I hear that Worf and Obrien were up very early this morning preparing the Defiant for our war game exercise with that fancy looking ship of yours." Sisko said with also a slight touch of pride in his voice. But then he became serious. "Has there been any luck in locating Lore?"

Picard gave Sisko a weary look.

"Not as of yet," Picard replied. "It might be wise to be on the alert there on DS9. If Lore is indeed planning on replacing Star Fleet officers with his android duplicates; you could be on his short list."

Sisko nodded his head in agreement.

"Good luck," Sisko said, "and; keep me posted."

Picard smiled and then the screen went blank. Suddenly he heard Riker's voice on the intercom.

_"Captain," Riker's voice said._

"Yes number one," Picard responded with.

_"We may have something," Riker came back with._

"On my way," Picard said, as he placed his cup of tea down and headed for the bridge.

And as he entered the bridge, Captain Picard saw that Riker, La Forge and Data were at the science alcove, and so he went over to them for a status report; Riker noticed Picard approaching and stood to face him.

"What have we got," Picard asked.

Riker looked over at La Forge and Data, and then back to Picard.

"They were using the long range scanners as we approached the planet, scanning ahead for any clues as to where Lore's underground lair might be, and were getting nowhere; and then something mighty peculiar happened," Riker reported.

"Do tell," Picard urged Riker.

Riker looked to Data and then nodded his head for the android to continue.

"Captain," Data said to Picard, "it is very likely that someone on the planet surface is using folded-space transporter technology."

Picard racked his mind, and then he remembered.

"The Ansata were using such technology as I recall," Picard said to them. "If I recall correctly, the use of such technology could cause the warping of DNA, and that is why it has never been used on a mass scale."

"That is correct sir," Data said to Picard.

At that moment, La Forge turned to face Picard as well.

"Sir," La Forge said to Picard, "I just went over the tech inventory of Atrea IV, and from what I can tell; no one down on that planet, well no one officially at least, has anything close to resembling a space-folding transporter. And," La Forge added, "once we got into orbit, Data and I scanned for any device resembling an Inverter."

"That's right," Picard cut in with, "the Ansata used them to activate their inter-dimensional transporters."

"And due to the fact that the device creates a nuclear vibration," La Forge continued, "there has to be a quantum resonance regulator to control it."

"Then what are you saying is..." Picard changed his line of questioning to,"Did the sensors detect a nuclear vibration?"

Data nodded his head.

"Affirmative," Data said. "And while the DNA warping you mentioned would seem to preclude the use of such a device for humans," Data said, "it would not have such an effect on android life forms."

As Data spoke, he could only wonder who or what was transporting to or away from the planet. Perhaps his brother Lore was in danger, and if that was the case, and if Data wanted to help Lore with his plans, Data had to get down there and find his brother so as to warn him.

* * *

**Lore's underground lair**

Lore entered the previously hidden chamber; holding the head of Herman-313 as he made his way. There were various computer alcoves which were inoperative, and other areas of interest in the slightly lit area. But in the center of the chamber was what appeared to be a transporter machine. There were only two pads to stand upon, but that wasn't what interested Lore. What did interest Lore was that the fact that the transporter itself was in activation mode.

"Why would you not have turned it off the last time you used it," Lore said, as he placed Herman-313's head on the consol. And then Lore read the information on the monitor. "How can that be possible," Lore said.

"What are you referring to Summit," Herman-313 asked. His head kept activated by a power sorce Lore had attached to it.

Lore shot Herman-313 a look of irritation.

"According to this log," Lore said, as he looked at the screen, "this device was used very recently. I wonder who activated it, since all the other androids are still in standby mode," Lore wondered out loud.

"It was I," a voice said from behind Lore.

Lore whirled about to see a human, male, and he was rather old looking.

"And who might you be; old man?" Lore asked with a sneer on his face.

"I have many names," Flint replied, "however, you can call me Flint. You might say that I am a friend of your father."

Lore cracked a slight smile.

"I'm not sure how you were able to use this transporter to get here." Lore said as he began to approach Flint, "However, I should warn you that I have absolutely no qualms with killing old feeble humans."

Suddenly stepping into view from behind a large computer panel to the right of Flint, the panel reached up to the ceiling, was Ruk; his deep set eyes transfixed on Lore. Lore stepped back.

"Good grief," Lore said in astonishment.

Continued…


End file.
